


Learn To Love (The Skies I'm Under)

by unmeshed



Category: How to Train Your Dragon (Movies), One Direction (Band)
Genre: A little bit of angst as well, Alternate Universe - Dragons, Baker!Harry, Crossover, Dragons, Fluff and Smut, M/M, and louis is just... there, dragon trainer!zayn, fisherman!liam, veterinarian!niall
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-02-05
Updated: 2015-02-11
Packaged: 2018-03-10 15:31:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,392
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3295535
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unmeshed/pseuds/unmeshed
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"See the thing is, others may have sheep, ponies, or parrots. Us Berkians? We have dragons."</p><p>In which Zayn is a Dragon Trainer and prefers the company of dragons over humans, Liam is a fisherman, Louis is Zayn's helper that doesn't really help that much, Harry is a baker and Niall? Niall has a way with dragons, and Zayn.</p><p>Oh, and they all have dragons.</p><p> </p><p>  <i>How To Train Your Dragon Crossover/AU.</i></p>
            </blockquote>





	1. one

**Author's Note:**

> The other day I was talking to [Julia](http://worknarry.tumblr.com) about How To Train Your Dragon and somehow the idea of this work happened. I couldn't be more excited that I'm finally posting this.
> 
> I would like to point out that I have used the names of certain dragon species they use in the HTTYD series, so for reference you could always google those names and see what they look like. If you wanted to.
> 
> A massive thank you to Julia for writing the whole plot with me and being as amazing as she always is, as well as a massive thank you to Sam for being my beta for this work and being super lovely so far!

 

 

_"The Isle of Berk. You've heard of it? You must be a Berkian then. I've lived in Berk for as long as I can remember. My father and mother were Berkians, my grandparents were Berkians, even their grandparents were Berkians. We've been around for awhile._

_There's something special about Berk. We're not like other Vikings. There once was a time when we were, but a great hero called Hiccup changed that. Which was centuries ago. See the thing is, others may have sheep, ponies, or parrots. Us Berkians? We have dragons."_

 

 

 

Zayn stands in the middle of the training pit that's on the outskirts of the Isle, hidden among the tallest trees on the island. A large flock of baby dragons has been born not too long ago, and it's Zayn's job to train them along with his best mate, Louis.

The dragon training business has been in Louis' family's hands for centuries. The infamous and grand Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III is Louis' great-great-grandfather, or something like that, making Louis' father the Chief of Berk. It's not as big a deal as it was back then, but Louis wears the family title with pride. Zayn wouldn't even be here, standing in the middle of the training pit if it hadn't been for Louis' father.

When he was four, a big battle occurred between the Berkians and other Vikings, who didn't support the idea of living amongst dragons. They wanted the creatures dead. Zayn's mother and father were brave during the fight. Too brave. They both passed away in battle, leaving Louis' family to take care of young Zayn.

Zayn is more than thankful for everything they've ever done for him.

"Malik, watch out!" Louis' voice sounds from the other side of the pit, but before Zayn can process what's happening, his face is met with the rough texture of dragon's skin; one of Louis' dragons flying into him with its tiny wings fluttering about. Zayn falls backwards onto the ground from the force and the small baby Gronckle plants itself down onto his stomach, letting out a satisfied sound, shaking its oversized head before laying down completely and falling asleep almost instantly.

Zayn pushes himself up on the back of his hands, letting out a small chuckle at the baby dragon now sleeping sound on top of him. Louis hurries over, the other two baby Gronckles flying next to his head with great effort. They almost tumble into Zayn as well when they reach him, having just as much control over their wings as their sibling.

"Sorry about that, Bronck's not quite figured out how to fly yet,” Louis says with a chuckle, rubbing the back of his neck as he looks down at Zayn sitting on the green ground of the training pit.

"Neither have Cronck and Dronck,” Zayn laughs, shaking his head a little. Louis' former dragon, Squirt, one of the Monstrous Nightmare species, passed away in battle about a month ago, and when the new flock of baby dragons were born, he couldn't resist all three of the baby Gronckles. Two of them will eventually go to his younger sisters once they are old enough to own one. Until then, Louis will train and take care of them.

Zayn has been friends with Louis since before his mother and father passed away. They were practically attached to the hip since Zayn figured out how to walk. Where Louis was, Zayn was. And the other way around. Their first fight ever happened when it was Zayn's twelfth birthday and he was allowed his first dragon, Thunderbolt. A beautiful black Night Fury, a species that was no longer nearly extinct. Louis got jealous, thinking Zayn's dragon was much more special than his own, and refused to talk to Zayn for two weeks. Which proved to be quite the task, considering they lived under the same roof.

The memory makes Zayn smile nowadays, because after two weeks of ignoring Zayn, Louis had taught his dragon, Squirt, to roll over and he simply had to show Zayn.

"Where's that reptile of yours hanging out, by the way?" Louis asks before putting his fingers to his lips, making a whistling sound to call over the other five dragons that they've been training that day. A Hobblegrunt and a Timberjack come flying over, the two baby Nadders and a baby Stormcutter continuing to play around with each other on the other side of the pit. The baby dragons never listen. Not to anyone. They're babies, after all.

"Thunder's probably flying over the ocean somewhere. He hasn't been out for a while,” Zayn replies, getting up to collect the other baby dragons so they can leave the training pit and head home for the day. "Still don't enjoy flying, do you?" his best friend asks.

Louis is right. He doesn't like flying. He's been afraid of heights since he was a little boy, the fear only growing when he found out his father was thrown off his dragon during battle. It's not that he doesn't trust Thunderbolt, because he does, but he prefers not to get up in the sky unless he really has to.

As if the dragon knows they were speaking of him, the Night Fury comes flying down from between the tall trees, gracefully landing right in front of the entrance of the training pit, merely inches away from where Zayn and Louis are standing. "Afternoon, Thunder,” Louis says with a smile, grabbing a fish from the basket he's carrying and throwing it at the large reptile, who catches it skillfully, swallowing it down in one go before smiling, satisfied, at both Zayn and Louis.

"Did you have a good time, boy?" Zayn asks the animal, scratching the underside of his chin, making the black dragon purr and wrap himself around Zayn, large tongue licking the side of his face. "Gee, thanks,” Zayn laughs, wiping the spit off with his sleeve.

They head back into the village, Louis and Zayn discussing the next day's training. Their dragons, as well as the ones that belong to some of the other villagers that they've been asked to train, are trailing right behind them, Thunderbolt making sure the babies don't scurry off anywhere.

"We've got to head down to the docks to tell Liam to bring more fish by tomorrow, is that alright?" Louis asks, after they've made sure that the dragons they've been training are back with their owners.

Zayn smiles, appreciative of the fact that Louis always asks him first. See the thing is, Zayn's not that good with people. He's always enjoyed his own company, or that of dragons, before the rest of the villagers. It's not that he doesn't like them, they're nice people. It's just that he doesn't quite know how to act around them. He's shy, always has been, and he's somehow shut out practically everyone after the death of his parents. Except for Louis and his family, and the dragons. He finds comfort in them. He doesn't so much in other humans.

He likes Liam though. The guy's nice, very simple-minded like most of the Berkians, and his dragon, Baldr (named after Odin and Frigg's son –Liam's a bit of a geek like that) might possibly be the dumbest dragon Zayn's ever known.

"Yeah, 'course. Need some fish for the house anyway,” Zayn says.

They find Liam at the end of one of Berk's docks, two heads attached to long necks that belong to a pair of Scauldrons coming out above the surface of the water. One of the green-coloured dragons opens its large elastic-like mouth and spits out a large pile of fish in the net Liam's got ready. Since the dragons have been a part of their life, fishing has never been easier.

"Liam!" Louis shouts at the brunette, who turns his head to wave at the two of them. Liam's brown hair is coiffed up and he's sporting a matching start of a beard. He never lets it grow longer than it currently is, just a bit more than some stubble. The guy's more muscled than most of the men in town their age, but definitely not as big as the older Vikings. Zayn knows it's because the fishing is quite the exercise, even with the help of the Scauldrons.

Liam's dragon, Baldr, is sitting on the edge of the dock, the tongue of the exotic-coloured Deadly Nadder hanging out of his large mouth, staring at the net of fish that Liam's reeling in. He's a beautiful blue colour, with a yellow underside, spikes, and wings, as well as yellow spots covering his tail and the rest of his skin. He doesn't look very deadly.

They make their way over to the end of the dock, Louis' three dragons play fighting and pushing each other off the edge of the dock into the water, making a lot of noise for three tiny Gronckles. Thunderbolt is walking on all fours, running over to Liam's dragon the second he notices his friend. An excited growl escapes his mouth, Baldr returning the sound.

"Oi! Louis, can you please get your dragons to stop eating my fish?" Liam asks with an annoyed tone to his voice when they reach the fisherman. Zayn notices one of Louis' dragons has quit the play fighting and is now delving deep inside one of the barrels that are filled with fresh fish.

"My dragons aren't eating any of your fish,” Louis says, a smug look on his face, knowing that one of them is in fact eating Liam's fish. He just enjoys playing with Liam. Loves how easily fooled the guy is.

"Bronck's eating my fish,” Liam replies, pointing in the direction of the barrel where the dragon's tiny feet are hanging out, kicking around.

"Bronck's not eating any of your fish, Liam,” Louis replies with a smirk, sitting down on one of the closed barrels. No one but him and Zayn can tell the three dragons apart, it doesn't help that Louis has given them rhyming names either.

"So get Dronck to stop then, yeah?"

"What are you talking about, Li? Dronck's sleeping." Louis turns his head to look at the other baby dragon that is sleeping right next to his feet.

"Cronck then."

"Cronck what?"

"Tell the useless reptile to stop eating my fish!"

"Oi, he's not useless. Also, not eating your fish,” Louis says, looking at Cronck, who's fallen asleep on top of the pile of fish in the barrel, his stomach full.

"But –Oh, forget it." Liam's shaking his head, getting Baldr to start putting the fish they just caught in the empty barrels. The dragon's got a big mouth, his lower jaw wider and bigger than his upper, making it easy for him to grab more fish at once. However, being not the smartest creature, he keeps dropping half of the fish next to the barrel, making the task take longer than it should.

"He'll be busy with that for a while. Anything I can do for you guys?" Liam asks, wiping the sweat that he produced from working in the sun off his forehead with his sleeve.

"Need some fish for this one." Zayn finally speaks up, petting the side of Thunderbolt's head, making the large dragon wag his long tail up and down. "You know what he likes."

Thunderbolt, like all Night Furies, is quite the picky eater. Zayn's always thankful that Liam saves the fish the dragon does like for him. Liam smiles brightly at Zayn. "Coming right up, mate,” he says, before disappearing into the dock house, which is the boy's home as well.

He comes back out after a minute, carrying a big basket of fish. "Here you go," Liam says, handing the basket over to Zayn. "Before I forget, Harry asked me if you wanted to drop by the bakery, he's got some leftover bread for the tiny ones. You use that stuff for training, right?"

Zayn nods. They use the bread to teach the dragons certain tricks. The animals obviously prefer fish, but bread works very well for training and there's always enough of it. He hasn't been to Harry's bakery in a while, whenever he goes, Harry has so much bread for him it lasts at least a month. He likes Harry though, the guy's a bit of a weird one, but he's always kind to all and treats everyone the same.

"I'll go see him now. You coming, Louis?"

"Nah, I'll hang out here with Liam for a bit, 'kay?"

"Sure. I'll see you tomorrow at the pit then?"

"See you tomorrow. Bye Thunderbolt!"

Zayn waves at his two friends before heading off, throwing the basket's strap over his shoulder, Thunderbolt soaring up into the sky and flying right above Zayn as he walks to the small bakery further into town. The black dragon's making small twists in the air, growling happily. Sometimes Zayn feels bad, wishing he wasn't so afraid of heights so he could climb on the back of his Night Fury and share the experience with the dragon. But then Thunder always seems to remind him that he doesn't resent him for it. The dragons are smarter than he sometimes thinks.

The small bakery is positioned in the middle of the village, practically identical to all other houses in Berk with its wooden walls, wooden pillars, and straw roof. It has a large stone chimney sticking out of the top of the roof though, much bigger than any of the other chimneys, thick smoke coming out of the top of it, and Zayn's immediately met with the inviting scent of fresh baked bread when he walks through the door.

There's a massive bread oven in the middle of the bakery, taking up most of the space. Zayn's almost certain it could fit thirty loaves at once. Harry's standing at a large wooden table next to it, kneading the dough for the bread. His dragon, a Hideous Zippleback, the kind with two heads, is sleeping on a large rug made of sheep fur next to the bread oven. Her long necks are tangled up in each other, one head resting on the other, snoring quietly.

"Zayn!" Harry says once he notices Zayn enter the bakery, smiling his happy, dimpled smile at him.

Thunderbolt's sneaked his way into the bakery after Zayn, of course, and is carefully shuffling over to Harry's small green dragon that is only three months old. Zayn's trained Cup and Cake, as Harry calls the two-headed dragon, up until a month ago. Thunderbolt had gotten quite attached to the female reptile during their training together. Zayn notices how much bigger the Hideous Zippleback has gotten, although not nearly full grown yet.

Thunderbolt manages to reach the green baby dragon without waking her and lies down beside her, moving close to the warmth of the bread oven before letting out a soft breath, closing his eyes as well.

"Harry, hey,” Zayn replies with a smile. Harry is mostly Louis' friend, as is Liam. But they're always nice to him and treat him as much as a friend as well. It's not their fault Zayn prefers the company of dragons to humans. "Liam said you had some left over bread for the trainings?" he asks, coming up to the wooden table and watching Harry knead the dough with much concentration.

"Yeah, I do! Took you a while to drop by." Harry's voice is kind and warm, and Zayn knows he's only teasing him. The boys all know he's not much of a socializer. That he spends eighty percent of his time at the training pit, the other twenty percent at his small home just outside the centre of the village. It's how he prefers it, and Zayn's thankful that the three of them never judge him for it.

"It's not as much this time, business has been good the past month, the other day the old lady came by, you know, Mrs Thorgilson, and she –" Harry's doing that thing where he just talks and talks and talks, and his story gets all mashed together and no one ever really understands what his point is in the end. Zayn moves over to the dragons as Harry continues his story while moving to the back to get Zayn the leftover bread. Zayn's not really listening, no one in town really does when Harry's telling one of his stories again.

Cake, the right head of Harry's dragon, widens her nostrils at the smell of Zayn, an unfamiliar scent in the familiar bakery. She opens her eyes while Cup continues snoring away on top of her, a happy sound emitting from her snout at the sight of her previous trainer before she moves her head, throwing Cup off in the process, and nuzzles her face in the crook of Zayn's neck. Zayn laughs, scratching her under her chin and all the way down her long neck, a trick he's learned over the years, making the dragon let out a happy growl.

"I can never seem to get that trick quite right,” Harry speaks up from behind him, throwing a piece of olive bread at the two-headed dragon, making Cup wake up and fight over the piece of food with Cake. He hands over a small basket filled with leftover bread to Zayn, squeezing his shoulder for a quick moment.

Before Zayn can reply, the door to the bakery flies open and a blonde boy comes stumbling in. "Haz! You're never gonna believe what happened t'day!" His hair is a mess and he's catching his breath, he obviously ran all the way to the bakery. A small green dragon hops onto his shoulder, letting out small cackling howls, as if it's trying to tell the blonde's story with him. Of course it's no one else but Niall Horan, the town's veterinarian and Harry's best friend.

"Oh! Zayn, hi!" Niall says with a big, happy smile once he notices Harry's not alone in the bakery. "How's everything, have the dragons been treating you well?"

"Yeah, yeah, 's been good." Zayn gets up, feeling the heat rise to his face as he watches Niall run his fingers through his messy blonde hair. If he doesn't know exactly how to act around the other Berkians, he certainly doesn't know how to around Niall _fucking_ Horan.

Niall has a way with both humans and dragons, and Zayn envies him for it. Niall's pretty much the light of the town, always cheerful and chipper, greeting everyone that crosses his path and knows everyone by name. Zayn doesn't even know most people by name aside from their small group of friends (if you can even call the five of them that). Not that he ever bothered to know.

"Bolt! Hi bud." Niall approaches the black dragon, wrapping his arms around his neck and laughing when Thunderbolt's tongue starts lapping at Niall's neck, leaving a large stripe of spit. That's another thing. Niall's amazing with dragons, in particular Thunderbolt. It's not very hard to get Zayn's dragon to like you, feed him some fish and he'll practically do anything you want, but Zayn sees it in the way Thunder acts around Niall, all excited and never letting back. He's quieter when around other people, even Louis, Liam, and Harry.

"What am I not going to believe that happened today?" Harry cuts in, now getting the fresh baked bread out of the large oven in the middle of the bakery.

"Oh, right! Sorry, got side-tracked for a minute there." Niall laughs. It's this happy, loud sound that is oh so Niall, and it makes the corners of Zayn's mouth turn up into a small smile. It gets even worse when Niall turns to wink at him, and Zayn knows he needs to get out of there fast. He's not about to make a fool of himself.

Niall tells Harry what happened that day, one of the town's dragons, a Deadly Nadder, that hadn't been able to fly since it got injured months ago, started flying out of nowhere when Niall visited the dragon for a check up. Zayn takes his chance as Niall tells Harry the story with big hand gestures and a wide smile, to attach the basket of bread to Thunderbolt's back and head out of the store, the other basket of fish he got from Liam earlier thrown over his own back. "I'll see you later Harry!" he says to the baker, practically rushing out of the door. "Bye Niall." He sighs once he's outside, wanting to hit himself in the head.


	2. two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for the amazing feedback on the first chapter so far, you're all amazing! I hope this chapter makes up for the lack of actual Ziall in the first chapter.
> 
> I'll try to update regularly, once a week but I can't promise anything because I have work and college to focus on as well! Anyway, I hope you like this chapter :)

The soft, golden morning sun is starting to slip through the few cracks in Zayn's wooden house, leaving spots of light on the walls, the floor, and right in his face, waking him up from his slumber. Groaning, he turns over on his side and bumps into something solid. Thunderbolt. Opening an eye slowly, he's met with the sight of his dragon staring at him with big bright eyes, his long tail wagging in the air behind him. He's sat on the ground, his head resting on Zayn's bed. "Just a few more minutes, okay bud?" Zayn mutters, voice raspy from being asleep for several hours.

He closes his eye again and wraps his blanket tightly around himself, burrowing his face in his pillow, ready to return to his dreams. He can feel Thunderbolt getting on the bed where his feet lie, the mattress dipping under the weight of the dragon. The animal keeps moving, making it impossible for Zayn to get a few more minutes of sleep. He opens his eyes and sits up this time, cocking an eyebrow at Thunderbolt, who stops in his tracks as if he's been caught doing something bad and stares right back at him, one paw raised in the air above where he was about to place it on the bed. The sight is hilarious and a small laugh escapes from Zayn's lips. "You alright there, bud?" The dragon produces a happy sound, jumping on top of Zayn and nuzzles his large head in the crook of Zayn's neck, making Zayn wrap his arms around him, scratching his sides.

Each and every morning goes by the same; he wakes up when the sun has risen, feeds Thunderbolt some of his favourite fish, and fries himself some eggs and bacon, eating it with a piece of dry bread and a large cup of cow milk. Louis drops by not much later and they head off to the training pit to work until sometime in the afternoon.

Today though, Louis seems to be late. Which actually works out for Zayn, who uses the time to write down the experience he's had with the dragons he's been training, and change some of the sketches he's made on the newer dragon species, adding information on them here and there.

Louis' dragons come in before he does, two of them stumbling in through Zayn's door, making small growling noises as they chase after each other into the house. The other one flies in through Zayn's kitchen window, stumbling into the pile of dishes he's left there, sending the pans and plates to the ground with a clattering noise. Zayn shakes his head at it.

"Good morning!" Louis says with a bright smile, hopping down next to Zayn at his massive wooden kitchen table, grabbing one of the journals and reading what he wrote down.

"Morning, you're late," Zayn says, not that he's really that bothered by it. Louis' three dragons have found their way to Thunderbolt and are crawling all over him, biting and nipping at his ears and wagging tail, making Thunderbolt growl at them to stop, having woken him up from where he was sleeping peacefully on the hand-woven rug in the middle of their house.

"Like you're never late." Fair enough. "You ready to get to work?"

 

++

 

 

At the training pit, Louis decides to take the Timberjack dragon out for a flying lesson, leaving Zayn with his three baby dragons as well as Thunderbolt, the Hobblegrunt, two baby Nadders, and the baby Stormcutter they've been training for a few weeks now. He leaves the older dragons to entertain themselves and focuses his attention on the little ones.

The Stormcutter in particular has been giving him a hard time, spitting out tiny balls of fire each time Zayn tries to get close to the dragon, not quite trusting him yet. Zayn decides to try something different this time, calling Thunderbolt over.

"Hi bud.” He smiles widely as the black dragon approaches him, breaking off a piece of bread and feeding it to him. The small Stormcutter is eyeing them carefully from afar, her head tilted to the side. Zayn scratches Thunderbolt behind one of his ears and the dragon purrs happily, leaning into the touch and nuzzling against Zayn's small frame. He lies down on his back, allowing Zayn to rake his fingertips over his stomach. Zayn sees the Stormcutter move closer in the corner of his eye. He continues to scratch Thunderbolt's stomach, making the black dragon kick his feet at the sensation, soft growls leaving its mouth.

"Such a good boy, Thunder." He smiles, noticing the Stormcutter is now sitting right next to where Thunderbolt's laying, her owl-like eyes watching them very curiously. Zayn decides there's no better moment than now, and carefully reaches out for her, his hand hovering in the air just an inch away from her head. What happens is unexpected, more so than her finally trusting him and allowing him to touch. She lets out a loud squeak of fear, her four wings spreading, standing on only her two feet. She's small, not nearly full-grown, but nevertheless scary.

Zayn can't process the moment quickly enough when she starts spitting out fire, his hand catches the flames and he can feel his skin burning. He screams out in pain, startling the small dragon even more, and Thunderbolt jumps to protect him, growling angrily at the baby Stormcutter. She doesn't back down, spitting fire at him as well before jumping on him, and Zayn doesn't see it happening but he hears Thunderbolt hiss out in pain as well. The Stormcutter runs off to the other side of the pit, hiding somewhere.

His hand feels like it's actually on fire and he knows he needs to get it checked immediately, but Thunderbolt is hurting, and Zayn hurries over to him to see if he's okay instead.

"Bud, Thunder, what happened?" He doesn't notice where the black dragon is hurt right away, but he runs his good hand over one of Thunderbolt's wings and sees it. The baby dragon tore out a small piece of Thunderbolt's left wing to protect herself. “Fuck." He runs a hand through his dark hair, not sure what to do. He can't leave Thunderbolt, or any of the dragons like this to run back to the village to get some help; it would take too long.

Thankfully, Louis comes flying back just at that moment, jumping off the Timberjack as fast as possible once he realizes something is wrong. "Mate, what happened?" He runs over to them, looking at Thunderbolt who has curled into himself, breathing slowly as he lets out soft howls of pain.

"Doesn't matter," Zayn says, knowing he doesn't have the time to tell. "Get back on that Timberjack and get some help.”

Louis notices Zayn's burned hand, his skin angrily red there. "You're hurt, Zayn!"

Zayn shakes his head, hiding the hand behind himself. "I'll be fine, just –get some help for Thunder, okay?"

"But your hand, Zayn you have to –"

"Louis, now!" Zayn raises his voice at him, they don't have the time to bicker.

"I –Right! Yes!" His best friend turns around only to stumble into the large rock behind him, falling over it before quickly crawling back onto his feet and hurrying back onto the Timberjack. As Louis flies off to the village, Zayn moves closer into Thunderbolt's space, sitting on his knees as he runs his good hand over his dragon's skin, ignoring the pain in his other hand that makes tears spring from his eyes. He whispers soothing words to Thunderbolt, assuring him Louis will be back soon and he'll be okay.

The black dragon moves his head onto Zayn's lap, a soft whine coming from his mouth. Zayn continues to drag his good hand over Thunderbolt's skin, running his fingers in soothing circles on the back of his neck. "It's gonna be okay, it's just a small bite, they'll patch you up and you'll be back to flying in no time." At that Thunderbolt lets out a sad howl, closing his eyes. Zayn knows it's not really his fault, but he can't help but feel like it is. Why did he have to try and reach out for the Stormcutter, when she was obviously not ready yet?

His own pain is pushed all the way to the back of his mind, even though his hand seems to feel hotter by the second. Zayn turns to look at the dragon's wing then, inspecting how bad it is. The bite that the Stormcutter has taken out of Thunderbolt's wing is relatively small in comparison to the size of his whole wing. Zayn's pretty sure it just needs to heal and Thunder will be able to fly again, but he can only imagine how much it hurts –a piece of your skin getting torn off.

He hears the sound of fluttering wings and the Timberjack with Louis on its back lands down in the training pit. Zayn is expecting another dragon with a rider on its back but he sees none. Instead, when Louis jumps off the large Timberjack, someone else jumps off after him and once they reach him and Thunderbolt, Zayn realizes it's Niall. Of course it's Niall, Zayn's not sure why he's that surprised to see the blonde. He is the town's veterinarian after all.

"Is he okay?" Louis asks, a small green Terrible Terror jumping on his shoulder, better known as Niall's dragon, Porkchop. Niall crouches down on the ground next to Thunderbolt's wing, already having seen the wound.

Zayn looks at his best mate. "Lou, would you check up on the Stormcutter and the other dragons?" He'd completely forgotten about them for a while. "Make sure she's okay?" Louis nods at him, heading off to the other dragons, Porkchop jumping off his shoulder to sit down next to Niall.

Zayn watches Niall quietly while continuing to run his fingers over Thunderbolt's rough skin, letting the dragon know he's there and he's not going anywhere. Niall works quickly, his calloused hands taking out several things from his leather bag. A small bronze lidded pot, some rolled up cloth to bind wounds with, and some more surgical objects that Zayn doesn't want to know the use of, like a pair of tweezers and a set of knives. He opens the bronze pot and dips his fingers into the thick, slippery ointment that is held in it.

"This might sting a bit Bolt, but you'll be good as new after." Niall smiles at the dragon and then at Zayn, who just nods at him, scratching Thunderbolt behind one of his ears softly to try and calm him down.

Niall puts the green, snot-like ointment –that smells like some of the herbs Louis' mother has in her kitchen –on Thunderbolt's wound carefully, spreading it out with his fingers. The dragon protests a little at first but Zayn keeps him still until Niall is done.

"That'll do the job," The blonde says with a smile. He wipes his hand off on his trousers and gets out some blueberries from his bag, holding them out for Thunderbolt, who enthusiastically starts eating them out of his hand.

"Make sure he doesn't fly for a few days, until the wound has healed –if it starts getting bigger or it doesn't look like it's healing at all, just come to me, alright?" Niall looks at Zayn from under his eyelashes, putting everything back into his bag.

Zayn accidentally leans on his burnt hand to get up, screaming out in agonizing pain before falling back to the ground. He'd completely forgotten about his hand until that very moment, the pain coming back to him. Thunderbolt sits up as fast as a flash of lightning, nudging at Zayn's side to check what's wrong. Niall has rushed to his side as well, grabbing Zayn's arm, and Zayn has to not think about the way Niall's hands feel on his skin.

"Zayn, your hand," Niall says, making sure not to touch the burn. The skin is a soft red, with white blisters starting to form on parts of his fingers and palm.

"I'll be fine –don't worry, I'm used to a little fire. I work with dragons for fuck's sake. I –It's nothing.” Zayn lets out an uncomfortable laugh, rubbing the back of his neck with his good hand after he sits up a little.

"Shut up, would ya?" Niall interrupts him. "That's a pretty bad burn, let me just –" Niall moves to take a leather flask out of his bag and opens it. "Sit still, alright?" He asks Zayn, who nods, staring at Niall with wide eyes when he places his hand under Zayn's gently. The gesture would make his stomach jolt in any other situation, being touched by the blonde, but he hisses softly when the cool water from the flask makes contact with his burning skin. It's not freezing cold like the water in the pond would've been, which Zayn is thankful for, but it's still not a pleasant feeling.

"Sit still,” Niall orders when Zayn gets the itch to move his hand, but he does as he's told, watching Niall take out the pot of ointment from his bag and starts spreading it over Zayn's hand like he'd done with Thunderbolt's wound.

The ointment stings slightly, making Zayn bite down on his bottom lip to keep himself from crying out in pain, but after a second it feels soothing, his hand no longer feeling like it's on fire. He focuses on the touch of Niall's hand to his own, smiling softly. Thunderbolt lets out a soft howl behind him, as if he knows exactly what Zayn is thinking. Zayn shoots him an annoyed glance, which only results in the black dragon letting out a cackling sound, like he's laughing.

"Looks like Bolt's feeling better already," Niall comments, laughing quietly.

"I –uh. Yeah, I guess so,” Zayn mutters in reply, brown eyes following Niall's movements as he grabs the cloth from his bag and starts wrapping Zayn's hand in it, binding his burned hand with care and precision.

"Thank you," Zayn whispers when Niall ties down a knot to keep the cloth secured in place.

"No problem, Zayn." Niall smiles at him, his bright blue eyes catching the sunlight and looking more beautiful than Zayn's ever seen them. He's so screwed.

Thunderbolt is back on his feet already, running around in circles, trying to shake off Porkchop, who’s clung to his tail, holding on for dear life. Niall shakes his head at the sight, a laugh escaping his lips. "Always a menace, that one. I swear he doesn't get it from me."

Zayn knows better than that, knows most dragons are more like their owners than a lot of people might think. And Porkchop is definitely a lot like Niall. Always present, rarely quiet, and somehow never boring.

"So, no flying, alright?" Niall makes sure one last time, reaching his hand out to help Zayn up from the ground.

Zayn takes his hand in his good one, pulling himself up. "No flying," he repeats. It's not like he flies much anyway.

"He doesn't?" Niall asks. Oh. He said that out loud?

"I –" Zayn doesn't know what to tell Niall.

"Zaynie here isn't very fond of flying,” Louis chips in, hanging an arm over Zayn's shoulders. Niall looks at him with curious eyes, but doesn't press the subject any further, telling Zayn he has to give his hand some rest for a few days instead.

 

++

 

Zayn lets Louis do most of the work the next couple of days, which is quite the change. He's glad it's his left hand that's burnt, instead of his right one that he draws and writes with, so he can work on his journals while Louis trains the dragons. They've only got the little ones left now, the Timberjack and the Hobblegrunt being trained more than enough to safely be with their owners. He comes to the training pit with Louis on most days, but some of the blisters on his hand have started to burst open when he was asleep, so Zayn decides to stay at home one day and work there.

Thunderbolt's mostly been resting at his spot next to the fireplace, the fire burning quietly, warming up the whole house. His wound hasn't started healing much yet, but it doesn't seem to get worse either. Unlike Zayn's hand, which is still angrily red and hurting.

He's sitting on the ground by the fireplace as well, his journals spread out on the low wooden table in the middle of his living space, and he's resting back against the wooden chair behind him that's covered in various coloured sheep pelts that keep it comfortable and warm.

Zayn hears the sound of a soft knock, and he looks up, thinking it's probably Louis. "Come in!" he says, not moving an inch as he continues to work on the sketch of one of the newer dragon species he hasn't been able to get quite right yet.

"Morning!"

And that's definitely not Louis. Zayn looks up, seeing Niall coming in through his front door, and closing it behind him. As always, Porkchop is sitting on his shoulder, squealing out a noise that sounds a lot like he's trying to greet Zayn and Thunderbolt as well.

The last person Zayn expected in his house would be Niall. He didn't even know the blonde knew where he lived. Although, the whole town practically knows where everyone lives, but he never thought Niall would bother to know. "…Morning?" Zayn says uneasily, sitting up against his chair slightly.

"Oh! You probably have no idea why I'm here, do ya?" Niall is smiling brightly, putting down his leather bag and a basket of what seems to be fruit on his wooden kitchen table. "Thought I'd drop by to see how you two were doing after the incident.” Addressing him and Thunderbolt, Niall moves away from the kitchen table and over to where Zayn is still sitting on the ground, Thunderbolt snoring on the large sheep rug next to him.

"Brought you some new cloth, you don't want that burn of yours getting infected, they'll have to cut off your hand then.” Zayn's eyes widen at the prospect of having his hand cut off and Niall laughs at that, loudly. "Don't worry, that won't happen as long as I'm here." His expression softens, bringing out a clean piece of cloth.

Porkchop has jumped off Niall's shoulder and moved to lie on top of Thunderbolt, falling asleep there. The black dragon is too fast asleep to even notice the tiny Terrible Terror.

"Can I?" Zayn turns his head to look back at Niall, who's crouched down in front of him, smiling gently at him.

"Yeah, um –of course.” Zayn lifts his left hand for Niall to grab and the blonde starts untying the knot. "Some of the blisters have popped –Ow!" Niall's started pulling at the cloth that has stuck to one of the popped-open blisters.

"Shit, I'm so sorry, I didn't realize the blisters opened already, that's a good thing though, means they're healing." Zayn squints his eyes slightly at him, unsure if he's telling the truth.

"Are you even a doctor?" he asks, raising an eyebrow at Niall while he is more careful taking off the cloth this time, making sure it doesn't stick to the blisters that have opened.

"I'm a vet, pretty much the same thing, isn't it?"

Zayn wants to tell Niall it's really not, but he stays quiet. Niall doesn't have to come over and help him, but he's here anyway and Zayn would be lying if he said he didn't enjoy it.

He watches Niall quietly for a while as he removes the dirty cloth and throws it out, heading into Zayn's kitchen to get a bowl of water and orders him to rest his hand in it for a moment to clean out the blisters. Niall tells him he's healing well and that his skin should start to go back to its original colour soon.

"So you really don't fly with him?" Niall asks after another moment of silence, rubbing Zayn's hand softly with the same ointment he used the other day. Zayn's too focused on Niall's hands touching him to have heard the whole question, looking up at the blonde confused.

"Hm?"

"You don't take Bolt out for flights? If Porkchop was big enough to fly, I'd be doing nothing else."

Zayn shrugs slightly, rubbing the back of his neck with his free hand. He doesn't really feel the need to tell Niall about his fear of flying. "Why didn't you get a bigger dragon, then?" he asks instead, dodging Niall's initial question.

"Chop used to be my da’s." Niall turns his head to look at the small green dragon spread out on top of Thunderbolt, the corners of his mouth turning up into a small smile. "But he's too old to take care of him anymore. And I've gotten quite attached to the little devil over the years." He's looking at Zayn again, still smiling. Zayn tries to ignore the fluttery feeling in his stomach, but fails terribly at it.

"I'm afraid of flying," he admits, before even realizing he's said it out loud. Niall makes him feel that he doesn't have to pretend to be someone he's not. "I've never been very fond of being in the air, but it got worse after my father's death." He doesn't have to explain to Niall what happened to his parents, the whole village knows of it, some of them being there when it happened. "It's not that I don't trust him," Zayn looks at Thunderbolt, "because I do, I trust him with my life. I just don't like being up that high in the air, not having the ground under my feet, you know?" He looks at Niall again, who's looking at him with a gentle smile, wrapping his hand in the clean cloth.

"I could, if you want to?" Niall speaks up after a minute of silence.

Zayn looks at him in confusion. "Could what, Niall?"

Niall's tied the knot on the cloth now, sitting back a little as he looks at Zayn. "Take him out to fly every once in a while? You could even come, if you ever felt up to it. It's less scary with someone else there. " He gets up, putting away the bowl of water in Zayn's kitchen and grabbing an apple from the basket. "I get it if you don't want me to, he's your dragon, I just think it would be nice for him."

"You'd really want to do that?" Zayn's surprised. Louis has never offered to fly Thunderbolt, even though he enjoys being in the air as much as Niall seems to.

"Yeah, I mean, why not? I can't fly Chop, but he could come along, and I do miss it, being out there between the clouds." He shrugs, taking a large bite of the green apple.

"I think he'd love that.” Zayn says, his mouth turning up into a smile. He can't believe everything Niall's offering to do for him, even if they rarely ever talked before his incident with the Stormcutter. He guessed they were friends, considering they always hung out together with Louis, Liam and Harry, but Zayn's always been distant with them. He never thought Niall would even remember his name, or know where he lives, let alone offer to ride his dragon for him because he's too scared to.

He's starting to think he's actually kind of glad that the Stormcutter burned his hand.  


**Author's Note:**

> [If you have any questions, or just want to talk, look me up on Tumblr!](http://unmeshed.tumblr.com)


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